David Malick applies the hermeneutics of narrative analysis to select passages involving women in the Gospels of Mark, Luke, John, and in the Book of Acts. At times, the scope of this analysis extends beyond heightened understanding of how authors presented women as significant characters, and even foils to men, in the narratives. The use of duality and balance in the narratives of Zacharias and Mary, Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman, and Aeneas, Tabatha, and Cornelius focus on what the author is doing with what he is saying. The use of intercalations, or sandwich stories, brings about heightened meaning when the stories of Jesus’ mother and the religious leaders, or Jairus and the woman with a hemorrhage, or Judas and the woman who anoints Jesus for his burial, are read together in Mark. A first and subsequent reading of the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law in Mark provides the reader with the first picture of true discipleship. The literary technique of a sign-sermon shows logical unity to what might be considered separate units in Mark and Acts.

The present volume unites 44 studies to honor Prof. Dr. Dorin Oancea, Romanian-Orthodox theologian and religious studies scholar, well known as a bridge-builder between Eastern and Western Christian Traditions. The manifold studies reflect upon the fundaments of interfaith and inter-confessional openness, offer insightful examples from past and present, or point to the loci where this openness can and should be achieved today. A meaningful collection for all those interested in present day ecumenical theology, in inter-confessional studies or theology of religions.

Scholars interested in narrative critical / narratological analyses of the Old Testament and New Testament Bible will welcome this extensive practical study that discusses all aspects that should be evaluated when a narratological analysis is undertaken. All the relevant aspects, such as the relationship between narrator and narratee, plot development, characterization, temporal relationships, focalization, and setting are discussed in such a way that it is easy to follow, yet of high academic quality. Each aspect is illustrated by several examples from the Old Testament and New Testament. At the end of each chapter is a bibliography directing readers to more technical books/articles on the subject.

The New Perspective on Mary and Martha gives Mary and Martha a total makeover. No longer is this familiar passage about prioritizing spiritual pursuits over the tyranny of the practical. The results of a close reading of the text and careful exegesis of the Greek has Martha escaping the kitchen and Mary is not even in the house! Martha is still overly worried, not about housework, but over the much more understandable concern about her (younger) sister. Mary, who is out of the village, follows her call, ministering on the road with Jesus. Luke 10:38-42 is about discipleship, ministry, trust, and the new family of Jesus.

Narrative criticism is a relatively recent development that applies literary methods to the study of Scripture. James Resseguie suggests that this approach to reading the Bible treats the text as a self-contained unit and avoids complications raised by other critical methods of interpretation. Resseguie begins with an introductory chapter that surveys the methods of narrative criticism and how they can be used to discover important nuances of meaning through what he describes as a "close reading" of the text. He then devotes chapters to the principal rhetorical devices: setting, point of view, character, rhetoric, plot, and reader. Readers will find here an accessible introduction to the subject of narrative criticism and a richly rewarding approach to reading the Bible.